Cultural and Social Change in the 1960’s

Category: 1960s, Music, Social Change

Last Updated: 19 Apr 2023

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Cultural and Social Change in the 1960's The 1960's in America was a decade characterized by evolving social issues and a rapid growth of many subcultures and culture in general. As their world changed around them and different issues presented themselves, people looked for areas of exppression in which their voices could be heard. This led to an explosion in all forms of art and literature. Areas like music changed in such dramatic ways as to rebel against past sounds and styles while civil rights movements forever altered the way the people of the U. S. iewed race relations. Music in the 1960's was influenced by many factors that people of the time had to face. Protest for the vietnam war, racial turbulence, and general unease provided a platform for musical creation that resulted in sounds so revolutionary and different than anything ever heard before that thousands of people would gather at single shows. Protest music was very popular in this decade because of the ongoing conflict in Vietnam. Acts such as Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan showed opposition to the war in music that became popular enough to define a generation.

Woodstock, a massive three day music festival that took place Southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York was attended by nearly half a million people and became an icon that helped to identify the music of the 1960's. During the Sixtees, men like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X were a part of the Black Civil Rights movement, which advocated equal treatment of African Americans and the disbandment of Jim Crow laws. After the assassinations of both of these important figures, their legacies lived on through such organizations as the Black Panthers and the Nation of Islam.

Another civil rights movement of the time was the Hipic or Chicano movement. The goal of this movement was to empower and give equal rights to Mexican, Puerto Rican, and other Hipic Americans that were being mistreated throughout the country. Movements like these had been seen in decades previous, but arguably with a great deal less success and popularity. The media was also another factor unique at the time to these civil rights movements, and without a doubt played a large role in their effectiveness.

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